The unit might have gotten off to a shaky start in Thursday’s 17-10 over at Buffalo in the preseason opener, but Boone believes it eventually will be vastly better than last year. He spoke Saturday about what hopes he has for the line.

“As a group, we have to be able to kind of dominate teams and go out there and put our foot on their throat right away and kind of squeeze as hard as we can,’’ Boone said.

The line on Thursday was missing starting left tackle Riley Reiff, who has a back injury, and there is continued competition at center between Nick Easton and rookie Pat Elflein. When all five spots are settled and the players will have time working together, Boone is optimistic about how the line will jell.

Against the Bills, quarterback Sam Bradford was sacked twice in three series. Boone wasn’t happy about that.

“We got to keep Sam standing up. … Two sacks is unacceptable any way you look at it,’’ Boone said. “That’s one of the things that you get in the (meeting) rooms and, ‘How do you fix this?’ We can’t have him on the ground.’’

Boone said the line also must do a better job in the run game, with rookie Dalvin Cook not having much room in the opener. Boone, though, scoffed at any early criticism the unit has had.

“This is the preseason,’’ Boone said. “People are going to freak out. Who gives a (expletive)? As long as the guys in that room understand one thing, at the end of the day we got to get better, … we’ll be fine.’’

Reiff missed a week and a half with a back injury after being hurt in the first full-squad workout of training camp on July 27. He returned to practice Monday and has been doing individual drills since then. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, though, said he’s “getting better every day” and will do more work Sunday.

In the battle at center, Zimmer said Easton “played well’’ against the Bills and Elflein “played very, very well.’’ Zimmer did note, though, that Elflein had a bad snap in the third quarter to third-string quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

“As soon as we figure out who the offensive line is going to be, it will help,’’ Zimmer said. “We want to do it sooner than later, but we want to make sure we get the right five guys in there.’’

RHODES SCARE

There was a scary moment in Saturday’s practice when cornerback Xavier Rhodes banged into safety Anthony Harris while they were defending wide receiver Michael Floyd.

Rhodes was on the ground being looked at for a few minutes, and most of the players walked over and seemed concerned. However, Rhodes soon got up, went to the sideline, and eventually returned to practice.

“I’m good,’’ Rhodes said after the practice.

The Vikings already had two defensive backs unable to practice. Trae Waynes was out with a right shoulder injury suffered on the second play Thursday and Andrew Sendejo was out with an undisclosed condition. With Sendejo out, Jayron Kearse got some work with the first team.

–After watching film of Thursday’s game, Zimmer said he liked the effort shown by Cook even though he had just 13 yards on five carries. “When it got into tight quarters, he lowered his shoulder and tried to fight for the extra couple yards,’’ Zimmer said. The coach liked how Cook caught four passes for 30 yards. However, he said Cook had a pass protection error on a sack by Buffalo defensive end Jerry Hughes in the first quarter.

–Vikings rookie linebacker Eric Wilson had a team-high six tackles against the Bills. Zimmer said Wilson was playing out of position in the middle because he wanted to get a look at Ben Gedeon at weakside linebacker. However, Zimmer liked how Wilson “can run around and hit.’’

–Many view Jerick McKinnon as a third-down back, but he doesn’t. “I never put that tag on myself,’’ he said. “I’m competing for the No. 1 spot.’’ McKinnon is battling Cook and Latavius Murray to be the starting running back.

Chris joined the Pioneer Press in 2013 to cover the Vikings. He was a longtime NBA writer with the Akron Beacon Journal, Rocky Mountain News and AOL FanHouse. Before coming to Minnesota, he covered the Miami Heat and Dolphins for Fox Sports. Chris has won six awards in the past three Pro Football Writers of America contests. Chris is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he spent his college years watching the losingest team in the history of Division I-A football.

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